Obama ends term with fewer pressers than Bush or Clinton

1/15/13 11:43 AM EST

President Barack Obama had fewer press conferences during his first term than George W. Bush, Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush.

Presidential scholar Martha Joynt Kumar did the math and found that with Monday's conference, Obama has done a total of 79 over four years.

That's 10 fewer than George W. Bush, 54 fewer than Clinton and 63 fewer than George H.W. Bush.

He did manage to beat out former President Ronald Reagan, who had only 27 press conferences during his first term, although many of those were evening conferences carried live during prime time across the nation.

Press conferences are one measure of a president's openness not only to the press but to the public he serves.

"They represent an important opportunity to explain their policies and their actions, as well as their goals," Kumar said.